Pranks and Praise
by Wonderbat Erin
Summary: The dwarves' clan chiefs meet to decide who will succeed Hrothgar. Íorûnn is present when Orik brings the Dragon Rider to oversee the election.


**Hi! I'm taking a break from updating "The Lady of the Traitor's Heart" by writing this crazy oneshot! I always wanted to write this...**

I stood and gestured at the clan meet."Where is grimstborith Orik?"

Gannel frowned and shrugged."I do not know, but I heard that he would be bringing the Rider Eragon to this clan meet."

Suddenly, the door banged open. We all stared at the brown-bearded dwarf who entered. I took him to be Orik. Following him was a tall man who had to stoop low to avoid banging his head on the ceiling. He was quite handsome, and he looked like an elf, with upswept eyebrow, large, slanted eyes, chiselled features and pointed ears, revealed when he turned his head about and his sleek hair slid to the side. He had hair as brown as a cave bear, and his eyes were of a similar colour.

"Greetings, fellow grimstborithn. This is the Rider Eragon, of whom I am sure you have all heard of."Orik said, in a deep, smooth voice. He cast a wary glance at Vermûnd, whose face was inscrutable beneath his purple veil. The Rider nodded and looked around curiously. His eyes settled on my face, and I smiled at him. A dark red flush spread across his face, and he hastily turned his face away.

It would be fun to tease him, I giggled to myself.

Later that day, I was walking in on of the rooms in the second quadrant, first floor of Tronjheim when I overheard Orik telling Eragon about the clan meet. The latter asked many, many questions, and Orik sounded frustrated at times. Finally, the Rider asked about me.

"Íorûnn is a great beauty among us. She is well sought after by some of the clan chiefs."

Great description, Orik, I thought sarcastically. Why don't you be a little vaguer?

Then I left for the dining hall.

A few days later, at one of the clan meets, I saw the Rider again, sitting next to Orik, looking very impatient as Gáldhiem babbled on and on about not supporting the Varden. I thought that that was not very wise-Galbatorix would still arrive to conquer us when he became strong enough. I knew that his hunger for power would never be satisfied till he conquered the world. Furthermore, I did not like the idea of hiding in the mountains while others fought to kill the black king and-

Wait. Someone was staring at me.

I turned. It was the Rider.

His pointed ears turned red and he flushed, as I lazily closed one of my eyes in a subtle wink. He then turned quickly away from me and stared straight at Gáldhiem, as though nothing had happened at all. I smiled. He was cracking.

Then, only a day later, he returned, being absent from the previous clan meet. His eyes were wild, and he kept a hand on the red sword of Morzan. He kept glancing suspiciously at Vermûnd, whose _façade_ was indifferent, as usual, though I saw his hands tighten on the pommel of his sword when Eragon entered the room.

Gannel stood and began a line of continuous Dwarvish. He was talking about the sounds we all had heard below Tronjheim the previous afternoon. Then something he mentioned caught my attention. A battle? I thought. Why would such a thing happen? Then Gannel asked if he could present a few questions. There was a pause, then I smiled and said,"I have no objections." I had nothing to hide, after all, so why not see what Gannel wished to say?

The other clan chiefs agreed, after some hesitation.

The questions he asked, and to every one, Orik gave a cryptic answer that hinted that he knew something of the matter, but would not reveal it until the very end. When Gannel told us of a large number of dwarves amassing, the clan meet erupted into a frenzy of shouting. Hadfala, my erstwhile foe, turned her silver eyes on me and said,"_Íorûnn _is a sly wolf-I think that it is she who has stationed warriors at every corner!"

I stared at her with indignance, and pointed a finger at her."Lies!"I cried, my voice a throaty whisper.

We began to argue, the volume of our voices rising, till at last we were shouting at the top of our lungs. At last, Orik stood, and declared that it was he who had done so.

I paused, and with a triumphant glare at Hadfala, asked,"And why, Orik, Thrifk's son, have you exhibited such belligerent behaviour?"

Orik replied in kind."Fair Íorûnn, it was indeed, I, who commanded my warriors to station themselves near here. I cannot speak for the actions of the other clan chiefs, but, as I have said before, my answer must be of necessity a lengthy one."

Gannel frowned, and said that he would wait till Orik explained.

Then Orik started, and he recalled the events that had occurred since the beginning of history. I sat, confused, and wondering why he was casting a red herring in our path.

Finally, he wove an epic tale of a battle under Tronjheim, where Kvîstor was killed and Eragon was almost killed, were it not for luck, fickle luck, that had caused the would-be assassin to strike an Erisdar and cause an explosion, killing himself in the process. Finally, Orik described the clues that had led him to the killer.

"And I name you, Vermûnd! I name you traitor, and I name you _oath-breaker_!"roared Orik at last.

Everything once again erupted into confusion. Finally, Gannel restored order, and they conducted an investigation, with Vermûnd denying every crime they named was his. Eventually, a verdict was found, and Vermûnd was punished accordingly. I turned my golden gaze onto the Rider. He must have great courage to have weathered such an attack, I told myself. He looked at me, and his almond eyes were unreadable.

**That's all. I don't know where to end it. This is a oneshot, so there won't be any more chapters. I wasn't listening to Brisingr at the moment, so if I quote wrongly, forgive me. Pleeeease review?**


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